שִׁיחוֹר לִבְנָת

From the study of Joshua 19:26

Range of meaning

Elsewhere Shihor refers to a branch of the Nile or to Egypt's eastern border waters (Josh 13:3; Isa 23:3; Jer 2:18; 1 Chr 13:5). It is usually explained as Egyptian for 'pool (or waters) of Horus', though that derivation is not certain. Libnath comes from the Hebrew root for 'white'. Put together, the name means 'the Shihor of Libnath', a particular watercourse in northern Israel and not the Egyptian one.

Against the English

BSB and KJV hyphenate it as one name. WEB runs it together as 'Shihorlibnath'. The Septuagint seems to treat it as two places. None of these choices changes the overall sense.

Used elsewhere in the period

The name occurs only here. Most proposed identifications are coastal streams south of Carmel, above all Nahal Tanninim, the 'Crocodile River', which really did have crocodiles in antiquity (an echo of the Nile, perhaps). Some scholars instead suggest the Kishon, the Belus (Na'aman) near Acco, or a marsh near a town called Libnath.